Elmira Lt. Daren Minch said the child was not smothered but would not elaborate further.

Payne was pronounced dead after 5 a.m. Sunday when police responded to 358 Columbia St. for a report of an unresponsive child.

The baby, who was not breathing when officers arrived, was taken by Elmira Ambulance to Arnot Ogden Medical Center and pronounced dead.

“Due to the nature of the death, a full investigation into the events surrounding (the death) was initiated,” Minch said in a written statement.

Cook was arrested after police collected physical evidence and interviewed those who were at the residence when the baby died.

A preliminary hearing in the case is set for 10 a.m. Friday. It is the second case of a mother allegedly killing her baby in the city this month.

Early Nov. 16, Teressa Penird, 25, allegedly smothered her 2-month-old son with a pillow at a residence on Balsam Street in the city.

Like Cook, Penird was jailed without bail. The case has been turned over to the county, and a grand jury will soon hear evidence in the case and determine if there is enough evidence for Penird to face trial.